Mr Martini Honda XM

Nicola Martini is not afraid to experiment. Although he’s best known for his work with Triumph motorcycles, he pushes the boundaries with styling—and occasionally throws a complete curve ball into the mix. This is one of those curve balls: a Honda XL600-based tracker called the ‘XM’. The XL600 was a ‘dual-sport’ thumper made in the mid-80s; despite its looks, it had limited off-road ability but was reportedly good fun on the tarmac. That 600cc single produces around 43hp, enough to push the bike just over ‘the ton’, and it was notable for having a radial valve head and a decompression chamber to make it easier to kickstart. Its looks were somewhat ungainly though, and the XM is a total transformation. There’s no specification to hand, but it looks like the only remaining parts of the donor bike are the motor and the front part of the frame. I’m guessing this machine would be a lot of fun to blast around an Italian mountain road. See more Mr Martini bikes here.